Apparatus for grading, separating, cleaning, and clipping grain.



Jv. W. WRIGHT. l APPARATUS FOR GRADING, SEPARAHNG, cLEANmG, AND cLlPPmG GRAW.

APPLICATION FlLED NOV. 22. 1916` Patented Sept. 17, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1. w. WRIGHT. APPARATUS FOR GRADING, SEPARATING, CLEANING, AND CLIPPING GRAIN.

. APPLICATIONFILED NOV-22.11916. 4 1,279,067. Patented sept. 17,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mc Nmzms Pnsns om, ruomumm; wAsumc ron, n. c.

J. W. WRIGHT. APPARATUS FOR GRADING, SEPARATING, CLEANING, AND CLIPPING GRAIN.

APPLlCATlON FILED NOVl 22. 1916. 1,279,067. Patentedsept. 17,1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

we vonnis Permis co.. FHomI-rmo.. wAsmNc mu, n. c.

J. W. WRIGHT. APPARATUS Fon GRADING, SEPARAIING, CLEANING, AND CLIPPING GRAIN.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22.4 |916-y Patented Sept. 17,1918.

, 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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mener Beieren@ .SaS-mennen APPARATUS non. GRADING, SEPA-RATING, CLEANING, ann CLIPPING canin'.

VSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 17, 19418.

ApplcatiQn led Neuemher22, 1916. SerialNol 132,891.

To vall @QJ/tom imag concern.'

V,le it lknown that I, JOHN W. WRIGHT, Citizen l0f the Deminon of .Cenadarsdine at Battleforh inthe Provinceof Saskatchewan and Dominien of Canada, Y have` in- `vented, certain new 4 and usefulImproieinents in apparat-Yu,s for Grading, Separating,

Cleaning, and Clipping(1li-gully and II do hereby .declaretlie fol-lewing ,robe K a full, clear, and exact ydescriptio11- of they invention, such as will yenable.ether-s skilled in the art to =which ituappertains to make and use the Sala@- ,This intention relates tdan apparatus for separating, grading,Vl polishing and elean ing elem-,and @li-prins eats- The object of 'the invention is toprovide a ,machine as speciiied which includes a nun'iber oi' yriddles over which VtheV grain passes ,lo an auxiliary vacuum chamber, where thefgrainis eubject to an upward draft caused by Vva rapidlyrevolviug fan, wherebyweeds, Weed seedsland residues are lifte'dainto fan .upper or lniain chamber with deadfends, the. lighter particles being carried out by means ,of an ordinary retary fan, while the heavierfparticles fall into the dead endsof the chainher, from which they V'may be removed iifliendesiredand'the good. grain iallseinto a spout at the bottom Vici' themachinc. .Before the grain vreaches the outlet spout, it can, by means of valvefplates, be directed into arevoliinoiwire inesh `cage where it is subjected to the action of rotary beaters which remlveireversel y to the directionof rotation. of the cage or drum, coin pleting the :grain cleaningby removing the chaff, husl's, and polishing' the grain'. AtV

the outlet endxofthe wireniesh drum or cage, which is `cylindrical in shape, the grain'` is again subjected to the eii'ectof the `fan by operationof other Valveplates, after lwhich the grain and before reaching .theputlet Ii'V the grain beoats, thebeatersaeting in conjunction with v the Wire linesh cage or druin will clip oifthe tails ofthe oatsfallowing the goed' gijaintoescape through the outlet end of the drum while the tails, chaff, etc., fallthrough the drum into a hopper from which itis conveyed by ,an Ordinary worm conveyer.

Another object of thisinyention isto provide an automatically kacting Ameans for thereto.

falls into an fauxiliary chalnber, Y

emptying ther'weeds, weed seedsand other .Vacuum l chamber, which ineans includes a pairof pivQted doors, `which-lare connected bymeausof a red andhjav@ a count-eriadan@- ing weight connected thereto, so ,that when the weight of the weeds, weed seeds and other residue which is -supported by oneof the pyoted doors is greater than the weight of Vthe counterhalancing weight, this door will be forced open for permitting of the emptying of thecontents'of the Qdead end fof theehaniber, while the upper Ydoor will Vloe moved into a closed position l:for preventing an air suction throughtlie 'outletzlof the end. The doors wilflhe swung into their nerinal positions, by the air d through the operation o i" the fan.

Vith'the foregoing Yandother objects vin view,ithis` iiivruiticn1 consists in such novel features of construction, conibinationand arrangement of parts as willihe hereinaiter z residue from either of the dead ends of the suction created therein moreA fully described, illustrated lin the p accompanying drawings land claimed.

In Vdescribing the invention in detail, reference will behadfto the accompanying drawings wherein like vcharacters designate like correspondi `g jparts' p throughoutthe several Views,"and inI which Figure l is aside elevation oftheapparatu's employedV for cleaning Aandf Clipping fgrain.

Fig. through "the 'machine Fig. 3 is a yvertical cross section through the machine talgen on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is ayer-tical cross section through the machine taken on the line of Fig; 2. .'Fg. 5:18V amend View of -the machine; Fig. 6 is a horijaontal section --on Vthe line 6&6 ofFig. 2 having parts thereof broken,

away.V Y Y Y Fig. P(is a detail View of therotary heater. Fig. `8 `is 5an venlarged side eleia'tion'piythe. chaff retaining Yand autoniatic dumping structure, Iand A i A l Figi. 9 is a fragmentary sideelevation of the flotary beater or polisher.

UReferring niore particularly to the drawings, l designates the ancaSiDg,` the outlet 2` of which :communicates with the ,atmosphere, `Whilethe inlet?) of the'fan'commu'nif cat es Withthe interior of ya'chamber 4I The chamber-i has downturnedv'ends 5 and-5' l grading, separatingrr..

2 is a Llongitudinal vertical section formed thereon, the extreme lower ends 6 and 6 of which are reduced, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully described. The downturned end 5 and 5 of the chamber 4 has communication through pipes 6 with auxiliary air chambers 7. The cliambers 7 have air intake openings 8 formed therein, about which openings are mounted air guiding cowls 9 which guide the air downwardly into the auxiliary chambers 7 and 7. The air suction created by the rotary fan 10, which is mounted within the fan casing 1 will pass inwardly through the opening 8, upwardly through the auxiliary chambers 7 and 7, pipes 6'C1 and into and through the end 5 and 5 and the chamber 4, passing out of the fan through the outlet 2. Suitable butterfly valves 11 are mounted in the chamber 4 and are provided for regulating the air suction therethrough and for cutting olf the air suction from either of the chambers 7 and 7 if desired. The butterfly valves 11 are carried by rods 12, which have handles 13 mounted on their outer ends. The handles 13 are held in adjusted positions, by means of any ordinary structure for this purpose, such as indicated at 14.

The fan 10 is mounted upon a shaft 15, which has suitable fly or balance wheels 16 mounted thereon. The shaft 15 is supported by a suitable support 17 which extends upwardly from the top 18 of the frame of the machine. n

The grain to be cleaned, is deposited into a hopper 20, which guides the grain downwardly into a distributing trough 21, which distributes the grain over the upper surface of the uppermost riddle 22 of a series of riddles.

In the drawings, riddles 22, 23 and 24 are shown, but any number of riddles may be employed without departing from the spirit of this invention, and as may be necessary for the proper sorting and cleaning of various types of grain.

The uppermost riddle 22 is made of coarse mesh work, while the riddle 23 positioned directly beneath the riddle 22 is of slightly finer mesh work, and the lowermost riddle 24 is of still finer mesh work, so that the various types of grain will be sorted or separated, and graded during their passage over the riddle.

The riddles 22, 23 and 24 are carried by thel usual type of frame work 25 which is connected to a rod 26, which rod is rocked or reciprocated by eccentrics 27 and attached to the arm 28, foroscillating or reciprocating the riddles in short quick strokes for insuring their eliicient operation.

The grain will fall through the mesh of the riddle 22, upon the riddle 23 while the straw, large particles of chaff and other, foreign material will travel over the full of the riddle 23, over length ofV the riddle 22, which inclines, and be deposited into a trough 30 which will deliver the straw to a second trough 31 which will in turn deliver the straw and analogous material below the machine as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The perfect and fine grade of grain or kernels will travel over the upper surface a guiding board 32 and into a guiding trough 33 which has communication through an opening 34 with the auxiliary air chamber. When the grain reaches the air chamber 7 it is met by a draft of air upwardly through the auxiliary chamber, from the air intake 8 and the force of the air suction will keep the grain momentarily suspended by virtue of the operation of the fan. While the grain is thus suspended and dancing, up and down, the lighter particles are carried upwardly into the downturned vendv 5 of the chamber 4, where they are released from the effect of the fan, owing to the fact that the downturned ends 5 have a greater cubic area than the cubic area of the auxiliary air chambers 7 Y and 7, thereby depreciating the effect of the fan and allowing the chaff, etc., to fall into the dead end 6 while the good grain will fall downwardly through the auxiliary chamber 7 and outwardly through the opening 35, into the delivery spout 36 which may deliver the grain into sacks, or any desirable retaining receptacle.

The second grade or smaller grains will fall through the riddle 23 upon the riddle 24, and will travel along the upper surface of this riddle, and be deposited in a trough 37 which will in turn deliver them to a downwardly extending trough 38. The dust, weed seeds and analogous fine material will fall through the riddle 24, upon a plate 39, which will in turn deliver it to a trough 40 which extends across the delivery end of the plate. The spout 40 will deliver the dust, weed seeds and the like to a downwardly extending chute 41 which extends downwardly along one side of the chute or spout 38, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Vhen it is desired to further clean and polish the grain, a flap valve 45 is operated for preventing good grain from passing completely through the auxiliary air chamber 7 and for guiding it through an opening 46 into a rotary foraminous drum or cage 47 which is substantially frusto-conical in shape and is constructed of wire mesh. The foraminous drum 47 has a crown gear 49 mounted about the outer surface of the enlarged delivery end of the same, which crown gear meshes with a pinion 50 which is mounted upon a stub shaft 51. A gear 52 is mounted upon the shaft 51 and it meshes with a gear 53 carried by a stub shaft 54. The stub shaft 54 is connectedthrough the medium of a gear connection 55Ywith a shaft rupon which isrmounted a rotary beater structure 57. Y

The rotary beater is positioned interiorly of the rotary drum 47, and it comprises a pair of spiderY members 57 which include a plurality ofradiating arms 58. Each of the arms 58 has a pair of beater or clipper blades 59 attached to its outer end,which blades extend longitudinally of the drum 47, for practically the entire length of the drum as clearly shownin Fig. 2 of the drawings. The blades 59 are provided with slots 60, through the medium of which slots and ordinary bolts the blades are adjustably connected to the arms of the spiders 57 for increasing or decreasing the radius of the beater. The blades 59 have their longitudinal edges concavely cut as indicated atA 6,1, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

The grain, which is delivered from the riddle 23, to the auxiliary air chamber 7 is guided by the pivoted plate 45, through the opening 46, into the interior of the foraminous drum 47 where it will be thoroughly cleaned and polished, by the rotation of the drumV and beater structure which will alsopolish the, grain. The chaff andi-lne particles of Y foreign matter which isshaken and polished from the grain, will fall through the openingV `in the foraminous drum 47, into a trough like receptacle 62 which is positioned beneath the drum. The trough like reccptacle 62 has an ordinary wormor screw conveyer 63 mounted in the bottom of the same, which `will carry the chad or foreign matter longitudinally through the receptacle 62and deliver it to a delivery spout 64. The grain, will pass through the drum 47, and out through an outlet opening 65, Vthrough an opening 66 and into the -auxiliary air chamber 7. l/Vhen the Vgrain enters the auxiliary air chamber 7 from vthe opening 66, it will be subjected lto the yair suction upwardly through this auxiliary air chamber, and the passed through the drum,

chaff which has will, owing tothe fact that it is lighter than the grain be drawn upwardly into thecnd 5 of the chamber 4, where it; will be relieved of the air suction, as previously described and fall downwardly into the dead end 6. The cleaned grain willlfall downwardly through the Vauxiliary air chamber 7,

V.through an opening 70into a delivery spout 7l. rPhe ends 6 and 6 are provided with automatic dumping mechanisms, whi-ch comprise bottom doors 72, which arehingedly connected to the bottoms ofv the ends 6 and 6. The rods 73 are connected to arms 75, which arms are in Vturn connected to the doors 72 and 74 respectively. An arm or rod 76 is connected to each .of the upper doors 74 and-it Ahas a bal-ance vweight, 77 mounted thereon.

Y respective riddles.

The chaff, weed seedsA and foreign mate rial accumulating in the end 6 will eventu-V ally overcomethe weight 77, and force the door 72 outwardly, permitting the chaii", and other foreign.` material to fall out of the end 6. f Vhcn the door 72 is forced downwardly for opening the outlet end of thechalnber 6, Y the door 74, which is positioned at right angles te the door 72 will move into a horizontal position closing the inlet ofthe end 6. After the chad and other foreign material which is positioned in the end 6 has fallen therefrom, the air suction through the ends 6a, inlcombination with the weight 77 will act to move the door 72 into its normal closing position and the door 74 ina vertical position as indicatedV in solid lines in chamber 6 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The machine maybe operated in any suitable Inanner, such as by manual power or any suitable type of mechanical power. In the drawings, a hand wheel is illustrated, which has connection through the medium of a sprocket chain 81 to a shaft 82. rIVhe shaftr82 is supported by suitable bearings83 and it has a pulley 84 mounted thereon inf l termediate its ends, about which a twisted belt 85 travels. The belt 85 also travels about a pulley 86 which is mounted upon the shaft 56. The rotation of the shaft 56 will rotate the beater structure, and also the foraminous drum structure, whichl drum structure will' be rotated in a direction opposite to the rotation of the beater, owing to its operative connection with the shaft 56 as previously described.

VThe shaft 82 has YVa second pulley 87 mounted thereon about which a belt 88 passes.V The belt 88 also travels Vabout Va pulley 89 mounted upon the shaft 90, which shaft operates the eccentric 27 Vand 28 and the rods 26.V A pulley 91 is also mounted upon the shaft Y9) about which pulley a belt 92 travels. The belt 92 'passes about apulley 93 which is mounted upon .the fan shaft l5, thereby rotating the fan 10 by the rotation ofthe shaft 90. The proper speeds of the various parts maybe regulated by the size of the various pulleys.

. Summing up', the operation of the improved inachine is Vgenerically as follows: The grain, such aswheat orthe like is fed to the hopper 20, which isiset a short distance.V above thedistributing box .21, for filling up,V the distributing box without overflow. The rapid vibration and oscillating movement of the riddles 22, 23 and 2 4 caused bythe ec?Y centrics 27 and 28 spreads the grain evenly over the surface of the riddles, dropping the smaller grains, seeds or the like tothe of straw, and other large foreign matter, while the second-riddle 23 delivers the Yhigh grade grain to the conveying board 32,

' which in turn delivers it ,to the troughl 30.'.

lio

The riddle 22takes-care Y the worm conveyer `unless it is desired and the auxiliary air chamber 7 The third riddle of the riddle 24 carries the second grade of grain, and the last riddle or the plate 39 receives the dust, weed seeds and other very fine particles of foreign material. Any number of riddles may be used, as desired and as the proper cleaning of various types of grain may dictate. The good grain, when it arrives in the auxiliary air` chamber 7 is met with a draft of air or air suction passing upwardly through the chamber from the air inlet 8 and the force of the air suction keeps the grain momentarily suspended by virtue of the operation of the fan 10. While the grain is thus sus pended and dancing, up and down the lighter particles are carried upward into the main vacuum or air chamber 5 where they are released from the effect of the fan, as previously explained, and allowed to drop into the dead end 6, from which they are delivered by the operation of the auto matic dumping means heretofore described. Very light chaff may be carried upwardly through the fan. The proper draft or air suction for removing the by-products, can be obtained by the manipulation of the valves 11, and suitable valves 6B, which are mounted in the pipes 6a. The good grain, falls downwardly, into the outlet spout 36,

that the grain be subjected to the action of the beater for removing husk and to polish it. The grain is then turned into the rotary foraminous drum 47 by means of the pivoted valve or plate 45, where the cylindrical shape of the drum and the action of the beater drives the grain into the auxiliary air chamber 7 at the opposite side of the machine from the air chamber 7 where the grain is again subjected to the air suction and cleaned. Dust, small particles of chad and other material drops through the mesh of the drum 47 and 63 then takes it away from the hopper or receptacle 62.

The same process or operation is gone through when oats are to be cleaned and graded, but when the oats arrive at the drum 47,. they have their ends or tails clipped off, by their outer edges concavely cut for this purpose. The wire mesh is of such size that only the small ends of the oats are caught and held for clipping by the knives or beaters. The blades 59 are set so that they will clip only the tails or ends of the oats as they rotate, while oats being smaller than the grade of oats allowed to pass into the drum, will be crushed between the knives of blades 59 and the inner surface of the drum 47, or will fall through the mesh of the drum.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of construction and of the blades 59, which have the method Vof operation of the improved process and-apparatus for grading, separating, cleaning and clippingV grain will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, and while in the foregoing description, the principle of the operation of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement 'of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions provided such alterationsV are comprehended withinthe scope of what is claimed.

1. ln a device as set forth, a supporting structure having firstand second vertical air chambers upon its ends, a third air chamber of greater cubic area than said first named air chambers extending across said supporting frame above the vertical air chambers, pipes communicating with said third air chamber and with the upper ends of the vertical air chambers, grain sorting meansV arranged to deliver grain t0 said iirst vertical air chamber, grain cleaning means arranged to deliver grain to said second vertical air chamber, means for directing grain from said first vertical air chamber to said grain cleaning means, an air suction fan communicating with said third air chamber whereby the grain delivered to said vertical air chambers will be subjected to an upward air bla-st, conveyer means positioned beneath said grain cleaning means for receiving material which passes through said cleaning means, ya delivery trough for said conveying bin, said conveying means opening into said second vertical air chamber near said delivering trough whereby the material conveyed by the conveying means will be subjected to an air blast during deposit in said delivery trough.

1n a device as set forth, a supporting structure having first and second vertical air chambers upon its ends, a third air chamber of greater cubic area than said rst named air chamber positioned above said vertical chambers, pipes communicating with said third air chamber and with the upper ends of said vertical air chambers, grain sorting means arranged to deliver good grain to said'ffirst vertical air chamber, grain cleaning means arranged to deliver grain to said second vertical air chamber, means for directing grain from said iirst vertical air chamber into said grain cleaning means, an air suction fan communicating with said third air chamber whereby the grain delivered Vto said vertical air chambers will be subjected to an upward air blast, valves positioned within said third air chamber whereby the air suction may be cut off from either of said vertical cham bers, conveyer means positioned beneath said grain cleaning means for receiving materia-l which passes throughV said cleaning means, a delivery trough for said convey- .ing means, said conveying means opening into said second vertical air chamber near said delivery trough whereby the material conveyed by the conveying means will be subjected to an air blast during deposit in said delivery trough.

3. In a device as set forth, a supporting structure having rst and second vertical air chambers upon its ends, a third air chamber .of greater cubic area than said lirst named air chamber' positioned above said vertical chambers, pipes comn'iunicating with said third air chamber and with the upper ends of said vertical air chambers, grain sorting means arranged to deliver good grain to said first vertical air chamber, 'grain cleaning means arranged to deliver grain to said second vertical air chamber, means for directing grain from said first vertical air chamber into said grain cleaning means, an air suction fan, communicating with said. third air chamber whereby the grain delivered t0 said vertical air chambers will be subjected to an upward air blast, valves positioned within said third air chamber whereby thc air suction may be cut ofi' from either of said vertical chambers, conveyer means positioned beneath said grain cleaning bins for receiving material which passes through said cleaning means, a delivery trough for said conveying means, said conveying means opening into said second vertical air chambers near said delivery trough whereby the material conveyed by the conveying means will be subjected to an air blast during deposit in said delivery trough, and valves opies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the positioned within said the air suction through bers. Y

4:. In a device as set forth, a supporting structure having first and second vertical air chambers upon its ends, aV third air chamber of greater cubic area Vthan said first named air chamber positioned above said verticalv chambers, pipes communicating with said third air chamber and with the upper ends of said vertical air chambers, a rotary foraminous drum, means for rotating said drum, a rotary beater positioned within said drum, means for directing grain from said third vertical air chamber into said drum, said drum delivering grain into said second vertical air chamber, an air suction fan communicating with said third air chamber, whereby the grain delivered to said vertical air chambers will be subjected to an upward air blast, valves positioned within said third air chamber whereby the air suction may be cut off from either of said vertical chambers, conveyer means positioned lbeneath said rotary foraminous drum for removing material which passes through the drum, a delivery trough for said conveying means, said conveying means opening into said second vertical air chambers near said delivery trough whereby the material conveyed by the conveying means will be subjected to an air blast during deposit in the trough.

In testimony whereofl I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. WRIGHT.

pipes for regulating said vertical cham- Witnesses:

SIDNEY A. LAW, F. G. ATKINSON.

Commissioner of Enten.

Washington, D CJ 

